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National Indigenous News August 17 · National Indigenous Newscasts

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: This is a look at your National Indigenous News.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Daryl Stranger.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: The chief of Long Lake No.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: 58 First Nation, located about 300 kilometers northeast of Thunder Bay in northwestern Ontario, is taking action following the third drug-related death of a young person this year.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Frustrated by perceived inaction at various levels of government, the chief of the community said he has now hired an Indigenous-run security company to run checkpoints in the community.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: That comes after Long Lake No.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: 58 declared a state of emergency in January over drug traffickers who were supplying to vulnerable members in the community.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: This spring, the community declared an additional joint state of emergency alongside neighboring Genugaming First Nation over the same issue.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: The communities are closely connected with their members sharing many familial ties.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Both communities are part of the Thunder Bay District, which continues to have the highest opioid-related death rate in Ontario, nearly five times the provincial average, according to numbers from the Office of the Chief Coroner released earlier this month.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Taking matters into its own hands, Ganoogaming passed a community protection order bylaw in May and has hired a security group called Anishinabe Ambassadors Inc.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: to help prevent illegal drug-related activities.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Long Lake No.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: 58 has hired that same group with the hope that drug dealers in both First Nations are held accountable for the harm they're causing and that community members continue to look out for each other.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: The federal government still can't locate 111 Indigenous artworks missing from its collection nearly two years after an internal audit found it couldn't account for 132.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: The Indigenous Art Center's collection, established by the federal government in 1965 to protect, preserve, and promote Indigenous art, consists of more than 5,000 works from First Nations, Metis, and Inuit artists.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: The collection, which is valued at roughly$14.4 million, includes works by such renowned artists as Christy Belcourt, Kent Monkman, and Norval Morrisau.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: An internal audit of the collection, dated November 2024, was posted last October on the Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada website.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: It tracked the operations of the department's Indigenous Arts Center from April 2019 to August 2024 and said the center could not account for 132 items in the collection.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: The audit does not say how much the mislaid artworks are worth.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: A spokesperson for Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs said the department has accounted for 17 of the missing artworks, and another four have been flagged as possible duplicate entries in their database.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: The department continues to look for the other artworks and has been checking regional federal government buildings.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: In 2022, the Indigenous Art Center began relocating its collection to temporary private sector storage facilities while the former storage site was undergoing renovations.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: The audit said the collection faced key risks to its security during and after the relocation and warned of an increased risk of theft and security breaches.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: It also warned that mishandling culturally important pieces in the collection could pose a reputational risk and damage the department's relationships with indigenous people.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: The department said last year most of the missing pieces were loaned out to government offices in the 1980s for display purposes and said many of the items identified as missing were reproductions, and there is no evidence of wrongdoing.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Nova Scotia Health is working on a province-wide smudging policy that will guide healthcare workers to support Mi'kmaq or anyone who wants to carry out the cultural ceremony in their facilities.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Mi'kmaq believed the smoke from burning traditional medicines like sage or tobacco cleanses negative energy and brings their prayers to the Creator.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: So Mi'kmaq and other indigenous peoples use the ceremony to help them grieve, ground themselves, and deal with critical care circumstances.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: However, up until now, smudging has fallen under the tobacco policy that says no open flame is allowed in hospitals, and if someone wants to perform the ceremony, they must contact spiritual care.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Many health professionals don't know what to do when someone asks if they can perform the ceremony.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: The creation of the policy is aimed to make indigenous people as comfortable as possible in hospitals or doctor offices and ensure that healthcare workers have clear instructions to assist any patient who wants to perform the ceremony.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: The policy will outline procedures and instructions for ventilating the space safely, such as closing the vents, turning off fire alarms, and making sure the flame doesn't come near any open oxygen.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Nova Scotia Health is creating videos to showcase this to staff, and they are going to encourage patients to use sage rather than sweetgrass, cedar, or tobacco.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: The policy is expected to be in place at all facilities before 2027.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's a look at your national indigenous news.